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				*Medical Ships Pack*
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				GTMT Panacea
				GTM Asclepius

This zip contains:  this readme, ships.tbl, transport61.POF, freighter62.POF, transport61-01a.pcx, transport61-01b.pcx, transport61-01c.pcx, freighter62-01a.pcx, freighter62-01b.pcx, freighter62-01c.pcx

To use this MOD:
Place this readme where ever you want.
Place the transport61.POF and freighter62.POF files in the FreeSpace 2/data/models directory.
Place the ships.tbl file in FreeSpace 2/data/tables directory.
Place all the graphic files (files ending with extension '.pcx') in the FreeSpace 2/data/maps directory.

I created this installation using several programs.  VPVIEW enabled me to extract the skins, the model (POF), and the ships.tbl.  AXE, a freeware HEX edit program enabled me to change the POF to refer to the new skins so the old Elysium and Satis are still usable in FreeSpace 2.  Paint Shop Pro 6.01 was used for the editting of the skins (the skin of the Asclepius is basically created from the hull plating of the Deimos class corvette with a red cross painted on.  The skin of the Panacea is the same as the Elysium aside from the red crosses painted on it).
A special thanks to Zarathud at Descent Chronicles for creating the MODing guide that helped me to create this mod.  Without that guide and its recommendations, these medical ships would not be possible.
Also special thank you to Volition for creating the best space sim in the known universe, FREESPACE 2! :)

The ships.tbl, model .POFs, and .pcx skins included in this zip will add two new medical vessels to FS2.  I felt that the Hippocrates, while an excellent medical ship, might need some accompaniment by smaller, faster medical ships.  So the GTMT Panacea and GTM Asclepius were born.
The GTMT Panacea was created by reskinning an Elysium-class transport and the GTM Asclepius was created by reskinning a Satis-class freighter.  I have renamed the .POFs and .pcx files so the normal Elysium and Satis are still usable.  To free up a little room in the ships.tbl, I deleted the GTD Bastion since it is a vessel rarely ever used in the game (the standard Orion-class destroyer is still available).

About all I did to modify the Panacea was paint a red cross on its left and right sides and on its front, as well as some differences in the ships.tbl between it and the standard Elysium.  The Asclepius was a different story.  It looks a lot different from its parent, the Satis.  I replaced the brown portions of the Satis hull with parts copied from the hull of the GTCv Deimos class corvette.  The Asclepius also has red crosses on it to denote its status as a medical vessel.  It has one on all four sides (left, right, top, bottom) as well as one on its front.

If you need any help thinking of ideas for using the medical ships in missions, here are a few:

1.)  Could be used to ferry medical equipment or injured personel to/from an installation or destroyer to/from a Hippocrates medical ship.

2.)  When one of the larger Hippocrates is unavailable, they can be used instead.

3.)  Extract injured pilots from their fighters and transport them out of the battlefield.

These are just a few I came up with off the top of my head.  I'm sure there are many other uses and I look forward to seeing those other uses.

You can use this mod in conjunction with any other mods if you wish.  Simply cut and paste this mod's ships.tbl entry into another mod's ships.tbl or vice versa.  Just remember to give yours truly credit for creating the GTMT Panacea and the GTM Asclepius:).  
In adding it to another ships.tbl, it may be neccessary to free up some room in the ships.tbl to combine them like that.  That should be easily done.  Delete ships that you never use in your missions (such as the GTD Bastion, for example) and you will have more room for other ships you intend to use.

Thats about it.  If you have questions/comments/complaints/etc. you can contact me via e-mail at:
  vasuda_prime@hotmail.com

-Ice Heart  